Conveyer for baking ovens



Feb 6 1940- J. v. cooK CONVEYER FOR BAKING DVENS ZJ mm.

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0K/VJ a 6MM Patented Feb. 6, 1940 ATENT yoerici:

ooNvEYEa non BAKING" ovENs John V. Cook, Chicago, Ill., assignor.` to The Petersen Oven Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application March Z6, 1938, Serial No. 198,296

4 Claims.

My inventionrelates to conveyers for baking ovens and particularly to that'class of conveyers y `comprising two endless chains mounted at oppo-` site sides of a baking chamber with hangers lo- 5 cated between the chainsand pivotally connected on horizontal axes between the chains so as to. be i `carried evenly andsmoothly about the loopl of the chains without being moved out of theirnormallb-alanced hanging position, and it is the object1of my invention 'to provide a new and improved form and arrangement oi' parts by which improved results may be attained as compared with prior constructions. In conveyors of this type, it has been customary heretofore to mount the hangers swingingly in position be tween the oppositelydisposed chains by pivotally mounting the arms of the hangers on the axes upon which the successive links of the chain are connectedtogether. In such an arrangement, in

i order to provide thenecessary clearance-between the hang-ers at the point where the hangers are.

moving from one level to another, it has been necessary to make such clearance` much greater than is required at the horizontal movement pori tions of the loop. i

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide an improved arrangement by virtue of which the clearance between successive hangers may be cutk down considerably by an increase in the'width ofthe hangers beyond that which is permissible in the prior constructions whereby the carrying capacity of the conveyor is increased substantiallyfbut without any danger that thel hangers will crash into each other because of such reduced clearance between them.j For accom` plishing this purpose, it hasbeen one of the objects of my invention to provide an improved arrangement bywhich 'the speed of movement of the hangers at the points where they are moving from one level to another shall be very considerablyincreased over the speed at which the hangers move .alongthe level stretches of the closed loop whereby each hanger in turn soy 'the parts;

Itis `another object of my invention Vto `ix'nprove devices of 'this type in sundry details hereinafter pointed out. The preferred means by which I haveaccomplished my several objects are'illustrated in the drawing and are hereinafterfspe- 5 cically described. That which I believe to be new and desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in the claims.

In the drawingl y Fig. l is a vertical cross sectional View through 10 a baking oven longitudinal-ly thereof?i showing diagrammatically the general arrangement of Fig. 2 is a top plan viewof one ofthe chains embodying my improved construction; 16

Fig. 3 isa side face View of the 'chain as shown imivigz;l f

Fig.v 4 is` a diagrammatic Viewv partly in section at the line 4--4 of Fig. 3 sl'iowingy my improved chains at opposite sides of `the baking 20 chamber of an oven with a hanger pivotally mounted therebetween; f i

Fig. 5 isa vertical sectional view taken at line Y5---5 of Fig. 3; and n .y

Fig. `6 is a view similar to Fig. l5 but .showing 25 the changed position of` `the parts in connection with the lower ply of the endless chain. v

` Referring now to the several figures of the drawing in which corresponding partsare indil cated by the same reference characters, Iii indi- 30 cates a baking oven of any approved `type having a door II movable edgewise upwardlyfor f opening -a doorway across the baking chamber in position for a convenient loading operation with respect .to the conveyor. Inasmuch as the oven 35V inand of itself forms no part of my present invention, it is believed to be unnecessary to show the arrangement or to describe the construction in detail. i

My improved conveyer'as shown diagrammatically in.Fig. l comprises two endless chains I2 and I3 as shown in Fig. 4` each of said chains .i being provided with a series of rollers NI there- 4being provided at eachgside of thebaking cham- `each of such hangers comprising arms 2li at opposite ends of body portions 25 of any approved form.

The means for mounting the hangers 23 between the chains I2 and i3 comprises a series of arms i6 mounted in crossed face to face relationship to the inside links I8 of the chain and arms 2l mounted upon the edge faces of the outside links IS, such arms 2S and'2l being arranged in edgewise alignment with respect to each other. The arms 2t and 21 are positioned so as to extend outwardly from the outer faces of the chains I2 and i3 in equally spaced relation to each other about said chains, being connected with the arms 24 of the hangers by means of pins 28 carried by said arms 24 and journaled in sleeves 29 carried by said arms 26`and 2l.

As is clearly shown in Fig. l, the hangers 23 are arranged with only a small clearance between them so as to give the conveyer its maximum carrying capacity. By reason of the mounting of `the carriers upon the chains by means of parts extending outwardly beyond the faces of the chains, the hangers are caused to move at a` considerably greater speed at the points where they are changing level about the sprocket wheels 2i and 22than at the points where the hangers are moving in horizontal planes. This differential speed of the movement of the carriers will be appreciated by reference to the fact that the carriersare clearly moving at the same speed as 'the chain at the points where the carriers are moving horizontally as contrasted with the considerably greater speed of the carriers at the ends of the chains where the radius of movement of the carriers is very considerably greater than the radius of the sprocket wheel.

By the use of my improved arrangement I am enabled to provide clearance for each carrier with respect to the adjacent carriers while at the same time making the carriers of maximum width so asto cut down the clearance between successive ,carriers This is accomplished without the necessity for the provision of any increased size in' the parts of the conveyer.

In the applicants arrangement, the trays are closely spaced while moving in the horizontal paths from one end of the baking chamber to the other. Trays loaded with pans of products to be baked, for example bread, serve as baffles to control the circulation of heated air in the baking chamber. The heat in the space between the lower run of trays and the flues, therefore, may

be quite high for thorough baking of the bottom i portions of the loaves of bread or other products without scorching the top portions thereof.

While I prefer to employ the form and arrangement of parts as shown in my drawing and as above described, it is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the arrangement shown except as the claims may be so limited, it being understood that changes might well be made in the form and arrangement Without departing from my invention.

I claim:

l. In a conveyer for baking ovens, the combination of two sprocket wheels at each side of a baking chamber, an endless chain of pivotally connected links at each side of the baking chamber mounted on the sprocket wheels at that side, means for driving said endless chains, arms extending outwardly frorn the chains, and hangers for trays mounted between the chains by pivotal connections with said arms at their outer ends, the sprocket wheels at each side being spaced to provide for a plurality of trays in a horizontal plane on the stretches of chain therebetween, the distance 'between the pivots of adjacent hangers being but slightly more than the width of the trays carried thereby, and the vertical distance from the axes of the pivot pins of the chain to the axes of the pivotal connections of the tray hangers and said arms being at least as great as the width ofl the spaces between the vertical edges of adjacent trays whereby the traysare closely spaced when moving in a horizontal plane but move from one level to another without interfering with each other'.

2. In a conveyer for baking ovens, the combination of two sprocket wheelsy at each side of a baking chamber all of substantially the same vdiameter and mounted at substantially the same level, an endless chain of pivotally connected links at each side of the baking chamber mounted on the sprocket wheels at that side, means for driving said endless l chains, auxiliary supporting means for the horizontal stretches of said chains for keeping them substantially level, arms extending outwardly from the chains, and hangers for trays mounted between the chains by pivotal connections with said arms at their outer ends, the sprocket wheels at each side being spaced to provide for a plurality ci trays in a horizontal plane on the stretches of chain therebetween, the distance between the pivots of adjacent hangers 4being but slightly more than the width of the trays carried thereby, and 'the vertical distance from the axes of the pivot pins of the chain to the axes of the pivotal connections of the tray hangers and said arms being at least as great as the width of the spaces between the vertical edges of adjacent trays whereby the trays are closely spaced when moving in a horizontal plane but move from one level to another without interfering with each other.

3. In a conveyer for baking ovens, the combination of two sprocket wheels at each side of a baking chamber, an endless chain of pivotally connected links and rollers at each side of the baking chamber mounted on the sprocket wheels at that side, means for driving' said endless chains, a substantially level track for the rollers of the horizontal stretches of said chains, arms extending outwardly from the chains, and hangers for trays mounted between the chains by pivotal connections with said arms at their outer ends, the sprocket wheels at each side being spaced to provide for a plurality of trays in a horizontal plane on the stretches of chain therebetween, the distance between the pivots of adjacent hangers being but slightly more than the width of the trays carried thereby, and the vertical distance from the axes of the pivot pins of the chain to the axes of the pivotal connections of the tray hangers and said arms being `at least as great as the width of the spaces between the vertical edges of adjacent trays whereby the trays are closely spaced when moving in a horizontal plane but move from one level to another without interfering with each other.

4. In a conveyor for baking ovens, the combi- 75V nation ofltxvo sprocket Wheels at each side of a baking chamber` all of substantially the same diameterand mounted at substantially the same level, an endless chain ateach side of the baking l:

` arms connected with the edge portions of certain of said outsidelinks in alignment With the links, other arms connectedwith certain ofsaidinside links in face relationship therewith' so as to be in alignment edgeWise with said rst named arms.

, said arms extending outwardly from the chains,

l and hangers `for trays `mounted betweenthe `pivot pins ,sof the chain tothe axes of the pivotal `another without interfering vWith each other.`

chains :by pivotal connections With'said arns attheir outer ends, the sprocketwheels at each t n side being spaced to provide 'for a plurality ofy trays in a horizontal plane on the stretches oit'` chain therebetween,` the distance` between `the pivots of adjacent hangers being but slightly' more than the Width of the trays carried thereby,

andthe vertical distance frornthe axes of the,`

connections of the tray hangers and said arms being atleast as great as the Width of the spaces' between the vertical edges of adjacent traysv "whereby the trays are closely spaced when moving in a horizontal plane but :fnoveA from one level to JoHN v. COOK.r 

